If the Dodgers win today, they will equal the longest road winning streak in franchise history, set when the 1924 Brooklyn Robins won 12 straight on the road from Aug. 25-Sept. 6. At 89 years old, the record has stood long enough to escape even Vin Scully’s memory.
So here are some things you might not have known about the 1924 Brooklyn Robins:
They finished the year 92-62, 1 ½ games behind the New York Giants for the NL pennant, after coming back from 13 games out on Aug. 9.
They were managed by Wilbert Robinson, who bore a suspicious resemblance to Wilford Brimley and gave the team its nickname, the “Robins.”
The road winning streak was established during the first game of a doubleheader on Sept. 6, 1924 as right-hander Bill Doak hurled a two-hit shutout over the Boston Braves and right fielder Tommy Griffith drove in the only run with a triple in the 1-0 victory. The game came in the middle of a 25-9 run by the Robins to finish the season.
Zack Wheat hit .375 that season, the third-highest single-season batting average in franchise history. Wheat still isn’t recognized anywhere in Dodger Stadium.
Some bullet points to tide you through the weekend:
• The Dodgers are the third-most likely team to win the World Series in Bovada’s updated odds, announced today:
Detroit Tigers
Atlanta Braves
Los Angeles Dodgers 7/1
St. Louis Cardinals 15/2
Boston Red Sox 8/1
• ESPN.com’s Buster Olney suggested in his column today that Clayton Kershaw has become a leading National League MVP candidate now that Yadier Molina is injured. Yesterday I suggested that he could be in the middle of the best season ever by a Dodgers pitcher.
• Great quote yesterday from Dodgers pitcher Carlos Marmol, when asked how he thought fans in Chicago would react if he gets in a game. “I don’t care,” he told reporters. “I’m with the Dodgers now. I’m in first place.”
• Congrats to the the Boys & Girls Club of Venice RBI junior division and senior division baseball teams. They won their respective West Regional Championship to clinch a berth in the 2013 Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) World Series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which begins August 6 in Minneapolis. Dodger outfielder Carl Crawford is an RBI and RBI World Series alumnus.
• On this day in 1981, Jackie Robinson became the first baseball player depicted on a United States postal stamp.
• From the National Post: “Monday appears to be the deadline for Alex Rodriguez and 13 others to accept suspensions for their ties to the Biogenesis of America anti-aging clinic.”
• Attention authors of baseball player fan mail: The bar has been raised.
• Happy 35th birthday to former Dodger Matt Guerrier.
• “Follow Your Way” is a good motto for Marmol and Guerrier, and a song by The Holydrug Couple: